Cinema Chile

Chile ventures its creativity on the 2023 Venice Stage

August 28, 2023

More than 15 Chileans are arriving with enthusiasm to participate in the prestigious new edition of the Venice Festival 2023.

The event, from August 30 to September 9, is known for the great level of world cinema that is presented and will feature the outstanding presence of Pablo Larraín (El Conde) in the official selection, Alicia Scherson (Summer War) in Venice Production Bridge and Tana Gilbert (Malqueridas) in the Venice Critics’ Week.

A total of 14 Chileans will be participating, both in the festival and in its market area, who will bring to the City of Canals the best of the national cinematography through 8 production companies, 1 festival and 5 institutions. Among them, four producers supported by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage.

At this meeting, Cinemachile, the body responsible for promoting Chilean audiovisual, has prepared a series of activities that seek to enhance the presence of the country’s cinema in the international arena.

Read on to learn more about this exciting participation!

OFFICIAL SELECTION

EL CONDE

Pablo Larraín lands in Venice with El Conde. His new work was written, together, with the Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón with whom the director has already worked on the award-winning works such as Neruda (2016) and The Club (2015).

Produced by Fabula and distributed worldwide by Netflix (premiere September 15) El Conde, comes to innovate in Chilean cinema. A dark comedy that portrays Augusto Pinochet, symbol of world fascism, as a vampire who lives hidden in a ruined mansion in the cold south of the continent.

But that’s not all, the film shot entirely in Chile will bring together outstanding national actors such as Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer, Alfredo Castro and Paula Luchsinger, who are joined by Catalina Guerra, Marcial Tagle, Amparo Noguera, Diego Muñoz and Antonia Zegers, playing the sons of the Count

Our commitment to Chile and Chilean audiovisual is clearly evident with El Conde, whose vision and universe bring us a unique, hypnotic and powerful film, like all his cinematography

Francisco Ramos, Vice President of Content for Latin America, Netflix


ALICIA SCHERSON AT VENICE PRODUCTION BRIDGE

This year marks the tenth edition of the Venice Gap-Financing Market, organized by the industry area of the Festival  (Venice Production Bridge) and aims to enable selected projects to close deals with their international production.

The edition will be held from 1 to 3 September and has 62 projects (of a total of 280 applications) being Summer War by Alicia Scherson, the only Chilean project chosen. Produced by Araucaria Cine with Le Tiro (Argentina), Nadador Cine (Uruguay) & 1976 Productions (Canada).

This thriller is an adaptation of a posthumous novel by Roberto Bolaño entitled The Third Reich. Hugo is the American champion of the game “Third Reich”. His holiday in Chile changes radically when a tourist disappears into the sea. Life and games begin to mix and the beach is revealed as a dark and dangerous place, like his mind.

Our presence as a country at this festival is just one example of how we are driving the global ventures of our talents and productions, where ProChile leads initiatives that encourage funding, distribution and international collaboration for domestic producers, promoting diversification and excellence in our exportable offer

Raúl Vilches, Head of the department of Creative Economy of ProChile.


DON’T MISS OUT! Meet the Chilean delegation participating in the Venice market

To this great participation are also the production companies and professionals who will be part of panels, meetings and workshops to enhance their projects in portfolio.

In addition, the 4 production companies supported by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage are: Afro Films (Sebastián Araya), Cangrejo Films (Diego Pino), Funky Films (Francisca Barraza)  and Juntos Films (Francisco Hervé). Among this large delegation attending the Venice market are Claudio Recabarren, Maura Morales and Tatiana Emden & Joyce Zylberberg (Screen Capital – Screen One Private Investment Fund).

The Chilean presence at the prestigious Venice Festival will undoubtedly have a great impact during this 2023. Along with the outstanding group of professionals and producers who will shine in this international scenario, it is important to highlight the significant contribution of figures such as Rodrigo Díaz (Festival del Cinema Ibero-Latino Americano di Trieste) as well as the fundamental entities: Chiledoc, APCT, ProChile and the Ministry of Cultures, which will be part of the meeting.


TANA GILBERT MAKES HER DEBUT IN THE VENICE CRITICS’ WEEK

Tana Gilbert’s debut feature, Malqueridas, makes history by being the first Chilean documentary and the only one from Latin America to reach the Venice Critics’ Week (autonomous and parallel section) in a total selection where seven titles will compete.

The section has been run since 1984 by the National Syndicate of Italian Film Critics and promotes new or emerging filmmakers.

Produced by Errante Producciones, the film has been recognized for development instances such as Visions du Réel and Cannes Docs. A voice reveals the experiences of being a mother when you’re in prison. Stealthy images recorded with banned cell phones account for the large collective memory archive inside the prison. Malqueridas reflects on the meanings of motherhood and the persistence of affections

As the spotlight turns to Venice, we are confident that the Chilean representation will continue to leave an indelible mark on this outstanding event.

Check out our line up! And don’t miss Chile’s activities in Venice 2023